Baba Yusuf: Insecurity Has Been Politicized For Either Popularity Or Suppression By The Government
Policy Strategist and Group CEO, Global Investment and Trade Company, Baba Yusuf, has bemoaned the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria, saying that insecurity in the country has been heavily politicized for either political popularity or suppression by the government.
He noted that the crisis is also driven by deep governance failures, including widespread unemployment, millions of out-of-school children, and expanding ungoverned spaces, all of which continue to worsen the security situation in the country.
“Fundamentally, it is the politicization of this insecurity. So, it is very clear that, first of all, it is the politicization of this issue. When it started, and as it is escalating, we continue politicizing it—whether it is the government in power or the opposition parties. It is so sad that we have turned insecurity into an object for politics, either to gain popularity or for the government to use it as a means of suppression or whatever.
“Secondly—which is an offset of that—is lack of good governance. You just mentioned some parameters here. I am from Northern Nigeria, and we have over 10 million children out of school. So, it is a failure of governance, not just at the federal level, but also more so at the sub-national level. This is because these states where these children are out of school are not gainfully employed.
“Then you have the ones that have gone to school, teeming in millions, that are milling around unemployed. And then those that even have a means of survival, the government has not been able to provide the enabling environment for them to be sustainable. Then you have the ungoverned spaces all over the place. Bottom line: the key critical failure factor is lack of good governance, and then the failure of the political class to recognize that this issue is consuming all of us,” he lamented.
He reiterated that insecurity is “consuming all of us,” and no political party can claim success as all have had opportunities without results, warning that continued neglect threatens future stability and governance.
“This is consuming all of us, and nobody can come today and claim to be a superstar because every other political party that is a mainstream political party has had the opportunity to turn this around, and it has not happened. So, suffice it to say the political class is taking this issue for granted. It is not strategic because, in the mid-to-long term, there may not be a country for us to govern as a political class. One hopes that there will be.”
Speaking more on the state of insecurity in Nigeria, Yusuf stressed that intelligence alone is insufficient without the capacity of the armed forces to act on it, highlighting cases where security units were overwhelmed due to lack of operational strength.
“You talked about intelligence. Intelligence is good; intelligence is important. But intelligence is useless without these three things: Capacity of the Armed Forces, response time, consequences.”
He further argued that without consequences, insecurity will persist in Nigeria.
“For almost 17 years across administrations, we have not seen any serious consequences, actions taken by government to demonstrate seriousness in dealing with this—whatever I call them, terrorists, I don’t categorize them. To see prosecution, to see us eliminating them in droves in the field. When they kill our people, they wear the uniform of our service men, taunt us and mock us in what they call ‘mediation.’ I’m not an advocate of mediation. We are at a war. These people are wearing the uniform of our people, raping our women, killing our children, and you are mediating with them to no effect? If we don’t have consequences, these people will continue overrunning us,” Yusuf warned.
He emphasised that political will is the most critical factor needed to ensure military capacity, rapid response, and accountability across all actors, including non-state groups and possible collaborators within society.
“Finally, what will result in the solution of the earlier two is political will. Whether it is the President or the Governor to deliver, to ensure: first of all, the capacity is there; secondly, the response time is there; thirdly, there are consequences for actions taken either by the non-state actors or for our armed forces that are colluding with them, or politicians that are colluding with them, or the religious leaders that are colluding with them.”
He added: “This is a serious issue, and political will is what will deal with this issue across party lines. I call on all Nigerians—whether the opposition party or the ruling party—playing politics with this issue is inhumane and it is ungodly.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s federal structure, he stated that leadership operates across federal, state, and local levels, but emphasised that the federal government must lead and set the tone for others to follow.
“My response to this would be that we have to categorize the leadership we’re talking about. Federal government, state government and local government. It’s right you can talk about the leader, but you also should recognize that Nigeria is a federating state. I mean, it’s a federation. Leadership will come from the top; we also have leadership at the state and at the local government. To be honest, I expect the government at federal level to lead the charge. Lead by example. I agree we have a federation, but leadership is contagious indeed. When the leader in the front takes a position… a leader like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when if and when he wants what he wants, he gets what he wants, can influence the federating states to do the needful,” he explained.
He explained that the situation reflects a long-standing governance challenge, but stressed that the current administration must be held accountable for responding to global economic pressures and their impact on citizens.
“It is a function of a national cultural malaise indeed, over time. It didn’t start with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, but indeed President Tinubu’s administration should be accountable now. And if that is the case, we would expect to hear from government a response to this global issue with vis-à-vis the macroeconomic impact on the common man, especially where you relate it to the impact of insecurity, to the issues of food insecurity that is creeping back,” he said.
He further highlighted the need for a clear, empathetic national strategy addressing rising costs, food insecurity, and security challenges.
“We are moving into the rainy season indeed; naturally there will be scarcity of food during rainy season. So I would expect a strategy to address this and to speak to Nigerians about it in an empathetic, strategic manner to tell us that they are aware, to tell us their plans, and to tell us what they are going to do with timelines.”
He advised that government should communicate plans with clear timelines and proactive steps, warning that Nigeria’s failure to save and plan has left it vulnerable during crises.
“Moving on from there also, for us to also know: what are the proactive measures going forward? For the past 16 years, we have not been a saving country; we have been a spending country. And that is what happens when you have this kind of disaster—you have nothing to hold on to,” Yusuf said.
Favour Odima
Follow us on: